Near the beginning of "Spring Awakening," the protagonist, Melchior, asks his teacher, "with all respect, sir, are you therefore suggesting there is no further room for critical thought or interpretation?" A valid question indeed, and one that is raised with alarming response at Over the Moon's production of the musical at the Arena Theatre in Hollywood.

"Spring Awakening," which won eight Tony Awards in 2007, is about a group of German youths in the 1890s who have never learned much of anything about sex. Wendla (Lindsay Pearce, "The Glee Project") asks her mother how babies are made, and is told that it happens when a wife loves her husband. Well, that's all fine and well, but it doesn't tell Wendla anything she doesn't already know, or, more importantly, anything she needs to know. Meanwhile, over at the boys' school, Moritz  (Chase Williamson) tells his friend Melchior (Mat Vairo) that he's been plagued by dreams of a vaguely sexual nature. Melchior offers to help clear things up for his pubescent pal, but ends up kickstarting a series of events that can only end tragically (what's that quote from"Mean Girls"? "If you have sex, you will get pregnant and die"?).

Director Kate Sullivan and her cast and creative team seem quite intent on recreating the Broadway production, which ran in New York for two years, and then on tour for three years (and appeared at the Pantages last year). Almost every moment is remarkably similar to Michael Mayer's original direction, which is a disappointment. "Spring Awakening" is an abstract show, yes, but that does not mean that every production must mimic the way the show was on Broadway, especially at the expense of bringing a sense of ingenuity to the show.

Problems arise from the sense that the production does not really fit the space it is using—for example, near the end of the play, we see Melchior in his study for the first time. It's a nice part of the set, but it's introduced oddly late and only briefly. Like on Broadway, there is on-stage seating, but it too feels poorly incorporated with the rest of the set. The actors seem to yearn for a bigger space, but are constrained by what is available to them.

The actors themselves are all fine, but nothing seems to cut deeper than surface level, and often comes off as a re-creation of the Broadway cast's performances. The show only hits home at a few brief moments, namely the large group numbers: "Touch Me," "Totally Fucked," and "The Song of Purple Summer." Those songs are marvelous enough on their own that it would be difficult for them to disappoint, and the cast takes advantage of their potential, making them the show's strongest moments.

On a technical level, there were some issues as well. A few instruments were out of tune, and so were a few singers at times. The lighting design, by Brandon Baruch, is quite pretty, but the downside of this is that it requires pumping the theater full of atmospheric haze, making it difficult to see, and even difficult to breathe at times. Timing-wise, too, the show was a bit off-kilter. There were many pauses that seemed unnecessarily pregnant, dragging the show along. The tempo picked up in the second act, which was a welcome relief—though perhaps it may have sped by a tad too quickly.

In the spirit of full disclosure, I have seen this show multiple times and am far more familiar with it than the average viewer. I brought my friend along, who had wanted to see the show for some time now, but had never had the opportunity, and she enjoyed it much more than I did. I don't doubt that the show is an enjoyable experience for someone who is not as alarmingly familiar with every intricacy of the show as I am. That being said, this skin-deep production does not live up to the potential of its source material.

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